A series of new not-for-proft children's homes are to open across Liverpool City Region in the next five years.
A £2.2m plan has been developed to support the opening of new homes, the first two of which will be in Oxton and Wallasey on the Wirral. Liverpool City Region’s combined authority is to contribute £800,000 to the project that will lead to 10 sites opening in total.
Additional properties have been identified in Sefton and Halton through the scheme run by We are Juno CIC. The community interest company estimates that 57 jobs could be created through the plan, with the first Wirral home to open early next year.
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The combined authority has been in dialogue with the company since last year, with Juno funded through £625,000 of charitable investments from the National Lottery, the KPMG Foundation and the Segelman Trust.
A total of £2.2m was needed to launch the project, meet initial running costs and establish the management structure. Juno has secured a £1m Wirral Council loan, £400,000 from social investors with the remaining £800,000 coming from the combined authority’s Strategic Investment Fund.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “Every child deserves the chance to grow up in a loving family with a safe, secure home to call their own. Yet, for some young people in our community, situations beyond their control can mean they find themselves living outside their family home for extended periods of time.
“When that happens, I want to make sure we can provide them with the reassurance of knowing they won’t need to leave their local area. Working with Juno and our local councils, we want to build a safety net that will mean a child’s life is disrupted as little as possible by making sure they don’t need to move school, or move away from their friends, at a time when they need stability the most.
“This is the difference devolution makes – giving regions like ours the opportunity to invest in life-changing projects that help those in our society who need it most, and ensure we can reap the benefits of secure, local jobs for our residents. Working together, we’re building a region where no one is left behind.”
Juno is proposing an ‘alternative social value model’ which leases properties, charges a ‘cost-plus’ price per child and generates a proportionate surplus to reinvest in further homes and a delivery model entirely focused on care. The CIC is supported by Capacity, who intend to develop further once the first homes are established.
Sophie Clarke, capacity director of children’s and strategic lead for Juno, added: “There are very few not-for-profit homes in the Liverpool City Region, and very few across the country. It’s a sector dominated by profit-making organisations, so we’ve created Juno as a way to really disrupt this and help create quality and not-for-profit alternatives for children.
“Further funding from the combined authority will help us do just that and build homes that have been led and shaped by the voices of care-experienced young people.”
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